'Filthy, horrible and treated like numbers': Ex-employee describes working life at Royal Mail's national distribution centre in Northamptonshire

Working conditions at Royal Mail's national distribution centre in Northamptonshire are 'horrible' and staff are treated like numbers, according to a former employee.

Kerri Wing only lasted four weeks working at the Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal (DIRFT) site near Crick for an agency because of the way she and her colleagues were managed.

Royal Mail said a range of preventive measures were in place to protect both customers and staff but did not address all of the ex-worker's concerns.

Ms Wing, 46, from Grandborough, Warwickshire, said: "There are people from all walks of life who have all been made redundant by Covid or fallen on hard times.

"So they need to make ends meet but they're treated very badly and the conditions are horrible."

Ms Wing said the toilets at the facility near Crick were either filthy or out of order and rubbish was often left on the floor never to be removed.

"I was told the cleaners were not allowed to get close to us when they're cleaning up and it's open 24/7 so there are always people around," she said.

"Sometimes you'd see someone with a broom but they'd never actually achieve anything."

Ms Wing usually started her shift at 5.45am but was regularly told they had run out of masks, which had apparently only become mandatory before the lockdown last month.

However, Royal Mail insisted that plenty of masks were available for those who wanted them

Lockers are not provided for agency workers so they have to dump their possessions wherever they can, usually in a big pile for everyone to rummage through at the end of the day.

Staff are socially distanced until the end of the shifts when everybody piles out at once, making it difficult to stay two metres apart, according to Ms Wing.

Many were concerned about the spread of coronavirus with some workers coming from hotspots like Leicester plus no information was provided about who was infected and if they needed to self-isolate.

Ms Wing quit when she was forced to park at the nearby Sainsbury's depot and get a bus to the Danes Way facility as she did not want to share transport with rumours of Covid-19 cases.

Management insisted the buses would not be run at capacity and users would be distanced but since leaving, her colleagues have told her they have ended up being filled with people.

Workers were offered a bonus of £50-£75 for working the next four Saturdays but two days later, this was retracted and a pay increase of less than a £1 per hour was put forward instead.

"Managers don't look you in the eye and you are treated like a number bearing in mind the intellect of the people I was working with we deserved to be treated with a bit of respect," she said.

"I'm speaking out because I know people who are angry about the conditions but still do it because they don't have a choice and it pays just above the minimum wage.

"I'm now working at Tesco instead and I have a job to go to in the new year but my old colleagues are putting up with it as they don't think they have got a choice."

A Royal Mail spokesperson said it takes the health and safety of its colleagues, its customers and the local communities in which it operates very seriously.

"Crick distribution centre has put in place a range of preventive measures to protect both our customers and our colleagues," they continued.

"There are plenty of masks available for those that want them. We were the first UK company to put in place social-distancing measures in relation to parcel delivery.

"We pioneered contact-free delivery. We are temporarily not handing over our hand-held devices to customers to capture signatures.

"As well as encouraging good hand hygiene, standard ways of working have been revised to ensure that colleagues maintain appropriate social distancing at all times.

"All staff have been briefed about the social distancing measures jointly agreed by local management and the CWU (Communication Workers Union).

"This has been supplemented with visible reminders such as posters and one-way floor markings."

Ms Wing was sent to the Royal Mail site through the agency GI Group, who she complained to about numerous issues but was ignored.

A spokesperson for GI Group said: “The wellbeing and safety of our colleagues is our number one priority at all times and we have a range of measures in place to protect them, working with the relevant authorities and clients to update these as and when necessary.

“We take any comments like this seriously and will take the time required to look into them properly.”